Guts and Glory: The 148th Hunger Games
by VeneratedArt
Summary: "The greatest thrill is not to kill but to let live." (Open SYOT)
1. Prologue I

_**Prologue**_

 ** _Raziya Hesper, Head Game-Maker_**

Raziya stared down at the paperwork in front of her, brushing away a strand of her thin lilac colored hair as a scowl appeared on her face. She usually tied up her hair so it was out of the way and it was easier to focus on her work. But right now, she couldn't have cared less whether it was up or down. There were bigger problems surfacing. They were drawing closer and closer towards the reapings and the arena had just been finished. _Just been finished._ They still had so much to implement and to not to mention they would have to work out any flaws within the arena. Raziya's pounding headache worsened at the thought of how prepared or unprepared the stylists were. She ended up having to lean back in her chair and take a few deep breaths, closing her eyes as she attempted to relieve all the stress that was building up inside of her. This wasn't her first year, far from it actually but she could definitely count it as one of her most stressful years. It could be a very frustrating job sometimes and all of the stress didn't disappear until a Victor stepped out of that arena. And even still, her stress was put at bay for a month at most before they were forced to begin making progress for the next Games. It was a difficult job and it certainly wasn't an easy one but deep down, Raziya knew that no other job would be as exciting, as fulfilling. No other job would come with as much fame either. Though the presenter and interviewer, Pavlos Syrio, could give her a run for her money. Despite all the downsides that came with the job, she really did love it. Six successful years had passed by, which meant six successful Games. And she was proud of each and every one of them, even if they had been stressful.

None of her Games had been practically special but Raziya didn't mind this because as long as it kept President Kouris satisfied, she was safe. Doing something that might attract too much attention or stir too much activity in the Districts could be risky. She opened her eyes at the sound of knocking outside her office, forcing her to sit back properly at her desk as she told whoever it was to come in. A head with short, cropped baby blue hair peaked inside the office before revealing the rest of his body, smiling nervously at her. It was Cecil Flavian, her assistant Game-Maker, he was nothing older than twenty-two. This was his second year working together working together with Raziya and he hadn't made any mistakes so far, though he continued to act as if he was meeting her for the first time.

He had been recommended by Raziya's previous assistant and they truly seemed to believed that he could handle the job. But they had also mentioned he had mild social anxiety. At first, this really bothered Raziya because she didn't understand why he was so nervous or anxious all the time, she didn't understand any of his symptoms. But eventually learned that it wasn't something he had asked for and that he was coping with. The more they worked together, the closer they would become and he would begin to loosen up. That's what she hoped for anyways but there was only one way to find out if that would happen, and that was to continue working. She nodded at him to confirm that he was allowed to enter the office, wondering how long Cecil had actually stood outside the door with his knuckle hovering over the door. Raziya couldn't help but pity him sometimes.

"G-good morning, Ms. Hesper."

He sat himself down in the chair opposite her desk, glancing away momentarily. He tended to stutter sometimes but lately, he had been improving on his stuttering, doing it less, relaxing himself and remaining calm in situations that may cause his anxiety to arise. He managed to pull himself together after briefly looking embarrassed, placing some files on the oak desk in front of him.

"Those are a few more updates on the muttations for the arena, we've begun making progress on them."

"Thank you, Cecil. I'll be sure to take a proper look at it." Raziya replied, taking the file and skimmed through it before tossing it down on top of the one about the arena.

"Is everything alright Miss?" Cecil questioned, his voice quiet and unsure.

"It's just the usual stress that comes along with the job, that's all. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Are you sure? Would you like a glass of water or anything?"

"Cecil," Raziya looked him in the eyes, smiling softly at the young man in front of her. "I'm sure. Don't worry about me, focus on the task at hand. So, update me on the progress we've made."

He shifted uncomfortably in the chair and glanced away, gently tapping his foot on the floor. "We haven't really made much progress since last month. The only thing that we have improved on since then is managing to complete the arena.. but you knew that already. Like I said, we started with the muttations but that's really as far as we've gotten."

Raziya groaned in annoyance and ran a hand through her hair to keep it out of her face. Were the other Game-Makers growing lazy? Bored? This was the slowest they had ever progressed before which resulted in more yelling, more rushing and more headaches. After these Games passed, she knew for sure that at least five people were going to lose their jobs. Once she determined who was making the least amount of progress, they would be gone in a snap.

"Then we need to start whipping things into shape. I know you aren't exactly comfortable with the thought but you need to be more stern with the others. Trust me when I tell you I won't be holding back. This is unacceptable." If these people really wanted to mess with her, she would show them exactly what would happen to slackers.

Cecil nodded and fidgeted with his hands, standing up to leave. He would have left without another word, head down if he hadn't heard Raziya saying his name. His head perked up and he blinked, his nervous smile returning to his face.

"Cecil."

"Yes?"

"Good work so far. At least I know I can count on you to get work done." That sentence brought a grin to his face, his hands were almost shaking out of surprise. It was the little things, but hearing praise always helped him, it reassured him.

"Thank you Ms. Hesper."

"Raziya. You aren't an intern anymore, you don't need to refer to me like I'm eighty."

He couldn't help but chuckle at the comment, nodding to prove he was listening and acknowledging what she was saying.

"Thank you, Raziya."

After that, he shut the door quietly and left to go and attempt to be 'more stern' with the other workers. Raziya leaned back in her chair once more and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a deep sigh. She was going to need to really push everyone to the edge to continue her streak of success. It better be worth all the headaches and stress that would ensue. And this years tributes better put on a great show otherwise, _someone_ was going to pay.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Hey guys, so yeah, I know what you're all thinking. "Art wtf are you thinking you still got another SYOT to do wyd", well, I decided another might help motivate me. I've been really inspired to do another one so here we are! This won't have a schedule however, I will update this when I can, just so you all know! I have school and life so things won't be very smooth at some point but I'll try! So please all, submit to me through PM! The form will be on my profile so y'all can copy/paste it. That's all really, I hope you liked the prologue, I tried me best for a start, I didn't want it to be too long but I didn't want it to be like 100 words long lol. And with that, I leave you guys to submit some tributes!_**


	2. Prologue II

_**Prologue II**_

 _ **District 3**_

 ** _Lumen Micah_**

Screaming. Horrifying, antagonizing screaming. That's all Lumen could hear, that was all that was echoing through his mind. He was running, his body was carrying him towards the direction of this screaming while his mind was still ten feet behind him. It was Nairn, that was the person who was screaming. An ally of Lumen's from District Seven. He _had_ to find him, he needed to stop whatever torture his ally was enduring. His chest burned and ached, it felt he was doing the most running he had ever done in his life. But he refused to stop without finding Nairn. He yelled and screamed to him, not caring if he drew any attention towards himself. He couldn't even hear himself, all the screaming was that loud. Everything around him was so bright, a bright neon color that it made it difficult to even see where exactly he was running to. Lumen just continued to let his feet guide him, one in front of the other as he neared the supposed location of Nairn.

That's when two bodies came into his view, one on the ground, the other sitting on top of the unfortunate tribute. It became very clear as another scream tore from Nairn's throat that he was the one on the ground, being mutilated by the merciless tribute above. His name left Lumen's mouth once more, full of desperation and panic for his friend. This resulted in the female tribute on Nairn to turn and gaze at him, curious to see who was yelling. It sickened Lumen to discover he recognized who she was, he hadn't forgotten her like he had with other tributes. She was Nairn's district partner. The crazed look in her eyes and the gut-wrenching grin she had on her face was enough to stop him in his tracks, a shiver running down his back. There was crimson blood staining her hands, blood that surely didn't belong to her. It came from Nairn, who was beneath her, deep gashes covering his arms and face. That's when Lumen started to focus again, pull out of the shock and panic, hearing the gurgling from his ally. She had slit his throat, he was dying underneath her while she smiled at him! What had happened to the girl who came in here, this was not the girl Lumen or Nairn knew. The Games had changed her, there was no doubt about that.

Rage. That was what he felt bubbling inside of him as he lifted his gaze from his dying friend, as he began to force himself to walk once more. Seven's female tribute, Ava, stood with a Corvo in hand, not a hint of regret in her eyes at the what she had done. Lumen didn't even have time to think before she was lunging towards him, slashing the Corvo in hopes of wounding him somehow. What made Lumen realize that none of this was actually real, that this was all just memories was the fact that everything was bright, and when he blinked again, his hands were around Ava's neck, who now laid lifeless on the soil, having left all sorts of scratches across his arms and face. He tried to even out his heavy breathing and retracted his hands, staring at the body below him. He stood up and stumbled away from the two bodies, shaking his head, in denial about the whole thing. But another blink and he was back above Ava, choking her as she struggled viciously. His mind refused to let him escape the torture of killing someone once, it was subjecting him to it over and over, different parts of the death flashing in front of him each time. He began to lose count about how many times he had killed Ava and was begin to lose himself when he stepped back and then... nothing.

Lumen blinked down at Ava's body, attempting to calm himself down as he took a few more steps back. He was free. He turned his gaze to Nairn's body instead and walked over to him slowly, dropping down to his knees as he stared at the corpse of his ally. His screams echoed in his mind, he couldn't shake them as hard as he tried. _"I'm so sorry.. I should have run quicker... I'm sorry I couldn't save you."_ He mumbled, wiping the tears from his eyes and he pulled him into his arms, holding him close and ignoring all the blood that covered his friend, one of the few people who really mattered to him. From the moment they agreed to be allies, they had bonded, grown to be good friends. If they had met in the same district, Lumen really would have been best friends with him. He could hear a voice booming throughout the arena as he clung to the body of his friend, wishing he could block everything out and just bring Nairn back. That was until he heard what exactly the voice, he assumed one of a Gamemaker, was saying.

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, Lumen Micah! Failure to all his friends and murderer of District Seven's tributes!"_

He felt hands grip his neck and tighten the grip they had on him. All Lumen could do was let out a strangled cry as he jolted back, finding that Nairn was glaring at him and was the one choking him. He struggled and fought against Nairn, trying to choke out desperate pleas for him to release him, but to no avail. _"You let me die. I screamed out for you, I took care of you and you let me get cut up by that bitch."_ Nairn growled, spitting onto Lumen's face as he slowly choked all the life out of him. _"You let me die for nothing!"_ He screamed, lunging back with his still clasped around Lumen's neck and slamming his head down onto the ground, causing Lumen to jerk up and finally wake up. He was covered in cold sweat and his pajamas clung to his skin. His throat was raw from screaming and all he could hear ringing through his ears was those final words he heard Nairn tell him. Of course, they weren't his true last words but Lumen felt responsible for his death, he blamed himself ever since he stepped foot outside the arena. He raised his hands to find them violently shaking but free of any blood. He glanced over at his clock, letting out a sigh of exhausted afterward. 4:18AM. He had almost set a record for himself, another half an hour and he would have reached his longest time enduring a nightmare without being woken up.

He forced himself up and out of bed, wrapping his nightgown around him as he left his room entirely, grabbing a packet of cigarettes and going to the front door of his house, to stare up at the sky. It was one of the few quiet areas in Three and with each and every nightmare he had, he found himself feeling more thankful that he didn't live near people you might hear him. Only a few other Victors, most a few houses away from him. He rested his back against the closed door and lit up a cigarette after removing one from the pack. He took a long drag before puffing it out, ignoring how cold it really was outside and focusing on relaxing. It had been four years since his Games, four years of nightmares and four years of mentoring. He was only seventeen when he had won. It was a roller-coaster since then, one he couldn't get off as hard as he tried. So he had to accept the fact that this was his life now. He brought his gaze down and stared at the snow coating his garden and the other Victors houses, smiling softly at the sight. He had always loved winter, it was the exact opposite weather than when the Games were being held. Which reminded him that they were six months away, six months until he was forced into torture, leading his tributes right into the hands of death. As much as he wished he could ignore the fact that they existed or just act like he didn't care about his tributes, he did. He cared about the lives of each tribute he mentored, each that were sent into an arena like he had been. There was so many things he had to prepare for, so many things he had to talk over with other mentors but for now, he would enjoy the peace and quiet that had fallen over Three, admiring the soft snow as he let the ash flicker down to the floor below.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Hey guys! I know, I've been gone a little while without updating but life has been in the way so much I had zero time to write and if I did, I had no creativity in me. Buuut, here we are, at last! I'm glad I got this out now since I'm on my Easter holidays but I'm really busy from tomorrow until Friday as I'm in a production of Les Mis with my stage school! It'll be a very busy week and emotional since it will be my last year with them. So, this takes place before the first prologue, six months before the Games, just to make it clear and in case anyone is confused. There are still spots open too, so submit if you haven't already! Hopefully, I can get things started soon with this SYOT! Besides that, I have nothing else to really say other than, what do you think of Lumen? Any ideas of what the arena might be? I'll see you all in the next chapter!_**


End file.
